Assiotor to staztoarb oil



c. M. HUSTED. I

APPARATUS FOR TREATING FULLERS EARTH AND SIMILAR MATERIALS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 14. I9I7. I

Patented Sept. 30,1919.

4 SHEET 8-SIIEET I.

. HUSTED.

APEARATUS FOR TREATING FULLER'S EARTH AND SIMILAR MATERMLS.

APPLICATION FILED MINI-I14, I917.

Patented Sept. 30, 1919.

V c. M. HUSTED. APPARATUS FOR TREATING FULLERS EARTH AND SIMILARMATERIALS.

. APPLICATION FILED JUNE I4. I917. 1,317,372.

Patented se e. 30,1919.

4 SHEE15-SHEET 3.

c. M. HUSTED.

APPARATUS ma TREATING mums EARTH AND suvnum MATERIALS.

, APPLICATION FILED JUNE l 4. 1911. 3 ,3 17,372 Patentad Sept. 30,1919.

CLIFFORD M. HUSTED, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW J ERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO STAND OILCOMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

APPARATUS FOR TREATING- FULLERS EARTH AITD' SIINm'JAIL Specification ofLetters Patent.

Patented SeptJSO, 1919.

Application filed June 14, 1917. serial No. 174,694.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLIFFORD M. HUSTED, a citizen of the United States,residin at Jersey City, county of Hudson, and tate of New Jersey, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for TreatingFullers Earth and Similar Materials, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in apparatus fortreating fullers earth and similar filtering materials,- and moreparticularly to the treatment of fullers earth which has been used forthe purpose of filtering or treating hydrocarbon oils in order to removeimpurities therefrom and to improve the col-or of the oils, the objectof my present invention being to so treat fullers earth, after it hasbeen used for oil filtering or treating-purposes, as to remove therefromthe. impurities which are carried thereby as a result of the filteringor treating operation, or which may be present in the earth, so that thefullers earth may be repeatedly used for said pur poses. The primaryobject of the invention .is not only to purify'the fullers earth, but toprovide a treatment for that purpose which maybe expeditiously carriedout with a saving of time over processes hitherto known.Heretoforefullers earth which has been used for oil filtering. andtreating has been purified by the application thereto of sulfuric acidwhich reacts with the impurities to formsulfates which, with otherimpurities, are afterward separated from the fullers earth, but thisprocess has been long and tedious and for that reason objectionableinasmuch as several days are required in order to carry out thetreatment, the process generally being to place the fullers earth in acontainer orvat, into which the sulfuric acid is admitted and permittedto percolate or seep through the body of fullers earth. Obviously, thisacid treatment has required excessive time because of the time it takesfor the acid to pass through the body of the earth, and is furtherobjectionable because of the difliculty of having the acid disseminatedthroughout the entire body of the earth, which resulted in some of theparts thereof escaping treatment. In my invention, to be hereinafterdescribed, I provide means whereby the acid is quickly and eflicientlyapplied throughout the entire body of the fullers" earth so that saidbody is completely treated, and also provide steps, and means forcarrying them out, whereby the impurities and sulfates are qulcklyseparated from the treated earth, the result being that I am able tomore completely and efiiciently treat the earth in a much shorter timethan has been possible by the steps and means hitherto known. By myinvention ll am able to thoroughly and completely purify the earth,including washing and drying thereof, in approximately one-half hour.

The invention consists in the. improvements to ,be more fully describedhereinafter, and the novelty of which will be particularly pointed outand distinctly claimed.

I have fully and clearly illustrated a preferredembodiment ofthe'apparatus constituting my invention in the accompanying drawings tobe taken as a part of this application, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of an apparatus embodying myinvention and adapted to carry out the process also forming myinvention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view in'end elevation of the apparatus shown in Figs. 1 and2 looking from the right of said figures.

Fig. 4 is a view in side elevation with parts broken away, and,partly insection, of means for mixing the acid or treating fluid with the fullersearth.

. Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5- 5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a view in side elevation of a washing apparatus.

Fig. 7 is a section on the line 7-7 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a view in side elevation of a separator or settling tank. 7

- Fig. 9 is an end elevation of the structureshown in Fig. 8 and lookingfrom the left of said figure, and

Fig. 10' is a top plan view of the structure shown in Figs. 8 and 9.

Referring to the drawings by characters of reference,

1 designates a receptacle to contain a sup ply of the fullers earth tobe treated, said receptacle being preferably in the form. of a tankhaving an outlet 2, from which leads a spout or chute 3, to feed theearth to the mixture therethrough, the said chute 3 and i beingcontrolled by a "suitable valve 5. The

chute 3 and the pipe 5 lead to an apparatus for thoroughly mixingtogether the acid and fullers earth, which apparatus consists of an openended cylinder 6, arranged at an incline' to cause progressive passageof the pipe 5 opening into the higher end of said cylinder. The cylinder6 may be caused to revolve by any suitable means, the same beingprovided with circumferential bands or straps 7 resting upon hearingrollers 8, and having a circumferential sprocket band 9, engaged by asprocket-chain 10, driven from a sprocket wheel 11 on a shaft 12. Theshaft 12 carries a bevel-gear 13, meshing with a bevel-gear 14 on' ashaft 15, the latter bearing a belt-pulley 16 driven by a belt 17 from apulley 18' on a shaft 19, the latter carrylng a pulley 2O driven by abelt 21, and pulley 22 on a power shaft 23, driven from any suit ablesource of power, not shown.

In order to provide for the thorough mixing of the acid and fullersearth, I provide the cylinder or drum 6 with longitudinally extendingbafiies 24 having lifting flanges 25-, directed in the direction ofrotation of said drum so as to pick up the material and drop it .in thelower portion of the drum and thereby facilitate mixing. I also-dividethe drum or cylinder into ajplurality of zones by means of internallyprojectin flanges 26 preferably two such flanges beln employed dividingthe drum into three 0 ambers or zones of equal size.

v I prefer to provlde the acid supply pipe 5 'with two outlet branches27 discharging in though these dimensions are not obligatory and may bevaried without departing from the first and second chambers respectivelyof the mixing drum, so as to provide for proper distribution of the acidthrough the body of earth being treated. Each of the discharge branches27 is preferably provided with a controlling valve 28 for regulating theflow of acid to the drum.

The mixing drum is preferably sist chemical action of the acid thereon.In the commercial embodiment described herein, the drum is approximatelytwelve feet long and fifty-four inches in diameter, al-

the scope of my invention.

The outlet end of -he drum is prov ded with a flaring discharge spout'29, by which the earth with the acid mixed therewith is discharged intoa chute 30 leadin to a washing'an separating or. settlmg c amber .31,

end of the vat. The vat ma made of sheet iron, and is lined with lead soas to reaway fromthe' chute 30, and also one inclined toward each otheras they approach the bottom of the vat, as is clearly shown in Figs. 8,9and 10'. The said vat is provided with an inclined gutter shaped bottom33, which inclines upward from the inlet be constructed in a number ofways, but prefer to form the side walls of flanged plates 34 securedtogether by bolting or welding the flanges to each other, the inclinedbottom being in the form of a gutter or trough-like member '33, havinglongitudinal flanges 36, towhich the flanges on the lowermost edges ofthe side walls are bolted. The bottom may be made of one or more pieces,two being employed'in the embodiment illustrated. The side walls of thesettling tank may be connected and braced by transverse struts or ties37 and I. referably provide the inlet end with a ba e or partition 38,extending from a point adjacent the top of the'vat to a point shortof-the bottom thereof, said bafiie being held in place detachably byspaced guide lugs 39' on the inner faces of the side walls.

In one side wall the vat is provided with an overflow 40, from whichleads a pipe to a sump 41, the arrangement being such that the heavierfullers earth gravitates to the bottom of the vat, while the fluidbearing thev im urities and some fullers earth escapes t rough theoverflow and passes to the sump in which it is permitted to remain tocause the earth to settle out of it and be removed in a manner and bepresently described.

The earth which settles to the bottom of the vat or chamber 31 isremoved by means of a conveyer screw 41 extending lon itudinally of theinclined bottom 33, and adapted to be rotated to convey the material upthe inclined bottom to discharge it into a Washing apparatus to bepresently described.

for a purpose to The screw 41 may be drivenby any suitable means, as forexample, it may be provided water from a supply pipe 52 discharging intothe deeper portion of said tank, 2'. e., at the end where the clay andacid are discharged into the same. This water when mixing with the clayforms a heavy foam which consists chiefly of sulfates, which foam andwater, and some earth, flow to the sump.- This important function of thevat 31 is to separate the sulfates from the earth, and at the same timedilute the acid remaining in the clay. The deeper portion of the vat maybe provided wlth a drain pipe 53 having a controllingvalve 54.

The screw 41, heretofore described, raises the settled earth from thebottom of the tank 31 and discharges it into a chute 55,

hubs 58, which are fixed to a hollow pe'r-.

forated pipe 59, extending laterally through the drum longitudinallythereof. This pipe 59 is mounted in suitable bearings 60, so as to serveas a support for the shell, and one end of said pipe is connected tosuitable water source, so that water will flow into the pipe and outthrough the perforations therein, and thoroughly wash the earth fed intosaid drum. In this drum the clay or earth a is thoroughly washed, andthe impurities and acid separate therefrom and pass out through theperforated sides of the drum.

The drum 56 is divided into three divisions by means of inwardlyprojecting flanges or bailies 61, the purpose being to retard the flowof the clay or earth toward the lower outlet end of the drum so as tokeep it from passing throughthe drum too rapidly. The

perforations in the pipe 59 only extend through that portion of saidpipe, which extends through the upper and intermediate sections of thedrum formed by the bafiies 61, the purpose being to have the last orlower chamber of the drum .act as admining chamber so as to remove anexcess of water from the clay or earth, which willfacilitate the dryingoperation, to be presently described. The drum 56 may be revolved by anysuitable means, for instance, it may beneath the said drum. The trough72 is inclinedin the opposite direction from the inclination of the drum56, and at its lower end portion beneath the inlet to said drum 56,discharges into a trough or chute 73, the

lower end of which connects with the sump or catch basin, heretoforedescribed.

The outlet end of the drum 56 empties into a spout 74, which in turndischarges into one end of a trough 75, the opposite end of whichempties into the inlet hopper 76 of a revoluble drying cylinder 7 7 theconstruc-' tion and operation of which will be pres ently described. Thetrough is provided with a longitudinally extending conveyer screw 78, bymeans of which the earth is fed lengthwise of said trou h into thereceiving hopper 76. The screw. 8 may be driven by any suitable means,as for instance a beveled gear 79 mounted on the upper end of said screwand meshing with a beveled gear 80 on a shaft 81. The shaft 81 has abeltpulley 82, driven by a belt' 83 from a pul ley 84 on the shaft 65.

The sump or catch basin 41* is provided with an inclined bottom having atrough 86 therein to catch any earth or clay which may settle down insaid sump, and this inclined bottom is provided with a feed screw 87, bymeans of which the earth is fed up said inclined bottom and dischargedat the upper end thereof into a washing and settling tank 88, by meansof which the earth is further separated from the acid and impurities.This tank 88 may be, and preferably is, similar in construction to atank or vat 31, heretofore described, and it is not believed necessaryto set forth the specific construction thereof because it'will be understood from the description of tank 31. This tank 88 is provided withan over-flow 89 connected. by a pipe 90, which may go to the sump 11 orto a sewer, and is also provided with inlet and drain pipes 88*, 88,similarly to said tank 31. The conveyer 87 leading from the sump isprovided at its upper end with a beveled gear 91, which is driven by abeveled gear 92 on the end of a shaft 93, the latter carrying a drivepulley 94 driven by a belt 95 from a pulley 96 on the shaft 44heretofore described. The washer 88is provided with an inclined bottom97, along which the earth is elevated by a screw 98, said screw carryingat its upper end a beveled gear 99 driven by a beveled gear 100 on ashaft 101. On the shaft 101 is a belt-pulley 102 driven by an endlessbelt 103 passing over a belt-pulley 104 on one end of'the shaft 48,heretofore described. The earth from the tank 88 is discharged by thescrew 98 into the'trough 75, and is delivered by the screw 7 8 into thehopper 7 6, heretofore described.

The drying cylinder 77 is preferably of the'rotary horizontal type,being provided with .band irons 1% arranged to turn on rollers 106 in awell-known manner. On the cylinder is a girth gear 107 which meshes adriving gear 108 on a shaft 109, the latter carrying a beveled gear 110meshing with a bevel gear 111 on a driving shaft 112. The shaft 112carries a belt-pulley 113 driven by a beltll, passing over a belt-pulley115 on the shaft 48. The rotary drier is heated from a furnace 114 ofany suitable type. The drying cylinder is provided with any suitableinternal means whereby the earth is thoroughly agitated during thedrying operation, so that the heating gas may reach all parts of themass and the drying be carried out efiiciently and with speed.

I will now set forth the operation of the apparatus above described.

The clay or earth to be treated and purified is fed into theacid-treating drum 6, and the purifyin chemical, for instance sulfuricacid, is fe into said drum and mixed with the earth. As the drumrevolves the earth is picked up by the baflies 24;, and carried upwardthereby and tumbled or dropped down into the acid contained in thebottom of the drum. The speed of revolution of the drum of. the sizehereinbefore mentioned is preferably about eight revolutions, perminute. By this step-the acid is completely and thoroughly mixedthroughv out the body of earth as the latter is fed into the drum;During the revolution of the drum, the acid-treated earth passes slowlylengthwise of the drum toward the outlet .end of the latter, beingretarded in this movement by thefianges 26, so that the earth isretained in the drum long enough to be adequately. treated with .theacid. This treatment may be efficiently carried out in approximately tenminutes.

The acid-treated earth is discharged from the lower end of the drum'intothe chute 30,-

down which it passes into the deep portion of the washer and separatingtank'31, where it is washed by the water continuously flowing into thelatter. The water in the tank 31 serves to separate an amount of theimpurities from the earth, thereby forming a heavy foam which consistschiefly of sul-' fates. The foam and water, and some particles of earthpass over the overflow 40 and down into the catch basin. or sump 41, butthe heavier and greater portion of the earth separates by settling tothe bottom ofsaid tank 31.-

The screw 41 operates to continuously re-' movethe settled earth fromthe-bottom of the tank 31, and conveys it to the secondary washer 56where the acid and impuri ties are washed out of the clay through th'sump or catch basin 41, both from the washing tank 31 and from thetrough 72, as heretofore stated, may contain a quantity of earth, andthis earth will settle at the bottom of the sump and be carriedtherefrom by the screw conveyer 87 to the washing and settling tank 88,where it is further washed and settled so as to recover all the claypossible and prevent waste.- The clay which is settled out in the tank88 is raised by the conveyer 98 to the trough 75, and is carried by thesame to the drier.

By the time the clay reaches the drier it has been effectually cleansedof acid and impurities, and in the drier the remaining moisture isdriven OE and the clay is ready to be used again for purifying oils.

The operation above described preferably takes place continuously, andwith a great saving of time over all previous means of purification ofWhich I am aware. When working under favorable conditions, I am able bythe above apparatus to properly treat a given quantity of material inapproximately, one-half hour, whereas previous known means have requiredseveral days, and then not with as good results as are pos sible with myinvention.

Any suitable means may be employed for continuously removing the driedearth from the drier, this means preferably consisting of an elevator orconveyer 117 driven by gear 118 connected by a belt 119 dri en from apulley 120 on the shaft 19.

What I claim and desire to secure by Let- 110.

ters Patent of the United States is- I 1. In an apparatus for treatingfullers earth and the like, a rotary drum, means for feeding acid andmaterial to be treated thereto, a washin and settling apparatus intowhich said rum discharges, a washing drum, means for feeding settledmaterial from the washing and settling apparatu said washing drum.

2. In an apparatus for ,treatmg fullers earth and the like, a rotarydrum, means for feeding acidand material to be treated thereto, awashing and settling apparatus.

into which said drum discharges, a washing drum, means for feedingsettled materlal emma ing acid and material to be treated thereto, meansfor feedin. material fron said rea washing and settling apparatus intowhich ceptacle .to said. riun, an agitatlng drier, said drum discharges,a Washing drum, and means for feeding material from said means forfeeding settled material from the washing drum to said drier 15 5Washing and settling apparatus to said wash- In testimony whereof I havehereunto ingrv drum. signed my name in the presence of two sub- 4. In anapparatus for treating fullers scribing'witnesses. earth and the like, arotary drum,'1neans for CLIFFORD M. HUSTED, feeding acid and material tosaid drum, a Witnesses: 10 Washing and settling receptacle into which C.G. HEYLMUN,

said drum discharges, a washing drum, E. M. Loonwoon.

